TNN, Jul 24, 2010, 04.12am IST
GANDHINAGAR: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi maintained a studied silence for the second consecutive day on Friday, notwithstanding the fact that his close aide and minister of state for home Amit Shah faces arrest for ignoring CBI summons in the Sohrabuddin case.

Modi did not turn up in his office on Friday. Officials said he was at his residence. "He was monitoring what was happening perhaps sitting at his residence, directly talking to Delhi leaders. But we can't say where he was," a senior Modi aide in the CM office told TOI.

Modi cancelled all his programmes for the day. "He was to go to Delhi on Friday to attend a meeting with Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on food price. However, the threat of Shah's arrest led him to cancel the decision to fly," the aide said, adding, "It is not sure whether he will go to Delhi for the National Development Council meeting on Saturday." Modi also skipped a 'Gharib Kalyan mela' meeting.

An uneasy calm prevailed in Shah's office in Sachivalaya. Three CBI sleuths visited the office to find out where Shah was. They took junior officers' statements and asked them since when Shah was not attending the office.

They also asked them about his whereabouts. However, the officers told them that they had "no knowledge of where Shah was".

The matter was quickly reported to G C Murmu, top Modi aide, who looks after law and order and court cases of the home department, sources said.

The office of the Gujarat home department too wore a deserted look. The only officer present in the department was T S Bisht, secretary, home, who looks after police modernization. There were no files in the chamber of any other babu of the home department, situated in Block No 2 of Sachivalaya.

"Additional chief secretary, home, Balwant Singh, who heads the powerful department, will only be returning from his month-long leave on Monday," an officier told The Times of India.

AHMEDABAD: As chief minister Narendra Modi's closest political aide, Amit Shah, managed to dodge the CBI for the second straight day, the investigators mandated by the Supreme Court to get to the bottom of the Sohrabuddin Sheikh murder case filed their first chargesheet on Friday, accusing the junior minister for home of murder, extortion and destruction of evidence.

Shah's arrest is imminent, with the CBI literally having thrown the book at him and an anticipatory bail plea rejected.

The chargesheet accuses him of extorting Rs 5 crore from a group of seven Gujarati businessmen who had used gangster Sohrabuddin's fire power for recovery of dues.

Legally, there couldn't have been a stronger indictment in this case pertaining to the killings of Sohrabuddin and his wife Kauserbi in November 2005 which was handed over to the CBI in January by the apex court. Shah has been accused of all serious offences in which 15 police officers have already been booked and are serving prison sentences for the past three years -- their bail having been denied time and again.

As the matter turned into a major confrontation between the Congress and BJP, Modi himself swung into action to pre-empt his right-hand man's arrest by orchestrating the political row, even as he himself remained silent.

Strategically, this was again a master-stroke by the CBI which has now laid its cards on the table, giving ample evidence of the ammunition it has against a politically explosive target. It has not spared Shah on any count even as the minister ducked arrest for the second day after receiving summons.

If the CBI chargesheet is to be believed, the minister had a role in just about everything -- from using Udaipur-based Sohrabuddin to run an extortion racket, his kidnapping on a bus ride from Hyderabad to Sangli, ordering the police to carry out the gangster's fake encounter on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, the elimination of his wife Kauserbi, as well as destruction of evidence of her killing.

The CBI has based its charges against Shah on nearly 20 witness accounts, four of them recorded under Section 164 before a magistrate. Shah was among the 15 accused named on Friday in CBI's chargesheet -- the other two political elements being Shah's close allies and functionaries of the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank Ajay Patel and Yashpal Chudasama. The CBI, which has already questioned Patel and Chudasama, has charged that these two handled the finances of the extortion racket.

A cat-and-mouse game kept CBI sleuths and Shah busy all Friday. Summoned twice for questioning, he kept the central agency sleuths and reporters waiting outside the CBI camp office at block no 11 at Old Sachivalaya.

Sources said Shah had an inkling of the CBI's plans of arresting him, if he turned up at the designated hour of 1pm. Despite issuing a press release on Thursday stating he would appear before CBI, Shah sent his lawyer, Mitesh Amin, to buy more time by seeking documents before arrest. Amin's request that his client be given a written questionnaire, was instantly turned down.

As soon as Amin had driven off after hinting that Shah could move an anticipatory bail application at the CBI special court, officers rushed to the same court to submit the agency's first chargesheet in this case -- something they had planned to submit on July 26 on the expiry of the three-month deadline after its first arrest in the case, that of DCP Abhay Chudasama.

Amit Shah's fall has dented his boss Narendra Modi's [ Images ] eligibility to some day lead non-Congress centrist parties at the Centre. Here lies the real win for the Congress, as this will play as an advantage for its future leadership, says Sheela Bhatt.

Amit Shah is no ordinary politician.

The Ahmedabad-based leader has been handling senior Bharatiya Janata Party [ Images ] leader L K Advani's [ Images ] elections year after year in Gandhinagar constituency. He is an important member of Chief Minister Narendra Modi's core group. He is one of the important people who helped Narendra Modi build his image as a strong politician after he became chief minister in 2001. He has been given credit for the prevention of any major bomb blasts in Gujarat.

He is, obviously, a shrewd politician. But his ability to read the intractable Indian voter's mind successfully is what has made the difference for his and his party's political fortunes in Ahmedabad [ Images ]. He is a 24/7 politician. Other than talking for ten minutes or so everyday to his recently deceased mother whom he revered passionately, he played politics -- sometimes dangerously -- round the clock.

Grassroots politician and ace manipulator of people and events, Shah, 46, is now disgraced. With the Central Bureau of Investigation filing a chargesheet against him, he will now have to defend himself for a lifetime, both inside and outside the court.

There is not an iota of doubt in the minds of political observers that the Congress party has orchestrated the event from behind the scenes. No doubt the CBI is under the shadow of the central government.

Despite this, Shah and the BJP do not have any convincing argument to claim that the case, now known as the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, is a political humbug.

In Gujarat, people are watching the unfolding event with astonishment. Will he be arrested? Will he be taken to jail? The man who once won an election with the highest margin in Gujarat is in hiding today. The event's climax has come in the form of the chargesheet, but Shah and Modi are both lacking in action and even strategy.

That also lends weight to the CBI chargesheet. Although BJP leaders declared political war against the CBI's action in New Delhi [ Images ] by holding a press conference in the afternoon, it appears they were left with no choice.

Shah always used to be dead right in judging the mindset of his core voters. That was his strength that nobody else in Modi's darbar could rival. He also knew political management: Like propagating against his competitors, creating debates or even subverting it if needed.

He ridiculed Congressmen with his superiority complex and sharp observations -- almost daily. His hunger for information about world trends, the intelligence of his political enemies and for knowing about the new political trends in the country was such that he would always travel the extra mile to get it.

He used information as a weapon. During assembly or Lok Sabha elections elsewhere, he would send his own team to assess the ground situation and then would make his own calculations. One could very well ask him, "Amit bhai, will Mayawati [ Images ] win the next assembly election?"

And rarely would his assessment be wrong.

Fundamentalist Muslims and the Congress were his targets and he could, like most Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha people, never accept the foreign-born Sonia Gandhi [ Images ] helming India [ Images ]. He disliked Congress politicians but appreciated P Chidambaram [ Images ] for his handling of internal security.

He is obstinate in his view that Islamic jihad has engulfed South Asia and it has to be suppressed by constant vigil, covert actions and intelligence. He created a local version of the Bush doctrine while in office. At home he was a family man where he allowed his heart to prevail, but once he stepped out he rarely trusted people.

He was born rich. His father Anilchandra had left behind a bunch of share certificates of India's blue chip companies worth crores. Before he turned fulltime politician he was a stockbroker and veteran of co-operative banks in Ahmedabad. His house in his native place is worth seeing for its architectural beauty.

Just to make sure that he remained connected to his voters, he stayed for years in an ordinary middle-class housing colony in Naranpura in Ahmedabad. Before growing in the BJP he established himself in the co-operative banks sector.

His arrogance is as legendary as Chidambaram's. Except one or two journalists, he never entertained reporters. He had some terribly wrong -- or should I say fascist -- notions about the functions of the media in Indian democracy.

He never gave regular briefings. However, most times, he knew more than the visiting reporter would know on current affairs. He considers the media as a thoroughly corrupt force in Indian politics. He has said many times that he ran the home ministry without much interference from his Home Minister and Chief Minister Modi.

He kept reporters away from new activities of his ministry. Democracy was a merely tool in his scheme of things. On a dozen political issues, his government was not challenged.

In the last nine years, with Modi winning several electoral battles handsomely, Shah started believing that Modi and their government had absolute power. The abuse of power started when political success came easy in the absence of substantial opposition.

Amit bhai, as his supporters addressed him, is a manipulative leader, but he knew his limitations too well. He knew that if and when Modi goes to New Delhi, only Modi will decide his successor if the need arose. Modi's confidante and minister Anandiben Patel, reportedly, envied Shah because he had Modi's ears on all serious issues. He advised Modi on almost all matters related to party management and political strategy.

The fundamental problem came when Shah was a Vishwa Hindu Parishad office bearer with typical conservative ideas about 'Mother India'. But, those ultra-nationalist ideas and Gujarat's rapid urbanisation became a heady concoction for politicians like Shah.

If one takes a stroll in Shah's Sarkhej constituency in Ahmedabad and see areas like Vastrapur, one would understand how a VHP-man-turned-urban-BJP-man like Shah has grown in the party and how the Manmohan Singh-inspired new economy has taken shape here.

Religious elements are indistinguishable from the government; development and fast growth too are part of Shah's nationalist agenda. Police stations and panchayat buildings are sponsored by private companies and are fitted with marbles and pictures of Hindu gods and goddesses. Shah was very comfortable with mixing the State and the church.

So far, his public image among his supporters was that of a bully and that he would never compromise on Hindutva. People knew him as a doer and that he would bring development even in the lanes and by-lanes of his constituency.

But, the most shocking thing for his supporters is that today it is not Hindutva or his so-called communal action that is under the scanner. Shah is branded as a murderer and extortionist today.

There are some 20 evidences against him in the chargesheet and some are likely to stand in a court of law. There are some businessmen who have given evidence that Shah demanded money from them after the fake encounter of Sohrabuddin.

Some businessmen have alleged that Shah told them that during the police inquiry into Sohrabuddin's activities, their names were linked with his operations. They allege that they paid Shah to remain out of the investigation.

Also, how the police murdered Sohrabuddin's wife Kausarbi with the help of poisonous injection is shocking, if true. Details ranging from the medical shop where the poison was bought to how her body was disposed is now documented in the chargesheet.

Shah will surely fight the case to prove his innocence because he will have to shield Modi too, who was his boss when this case took shape.

The weakest link in the BJP's arguments is that a large part of the investigation of the Sohrabuddin case was conducted by Gujarat cadre police officer Geeta Johari, who was sidelined by Shah. Shah had been accused of transferring police officers who were not conducive to him. He was also micro-managing the ministry. People have often seen him talking to junior police officers.

In 2006, Johri, on the instructions of the then director general of police P C Pande, formed a team and sent it to Hyderabad and other places to investigate how Sohrabuddin was killed. The Supreme Court had ordered the DGP to conduct an inquiry.

She build the case and before Shah could influence the probe she sent it directly to Supreme Court. Till then, Shah was not within the ambit of the investigation.

Later, activists alleged that Shah favoured Johri and she allegedly tried to change the track of the investigation. Only then was the case given to the CBI. Johri was made the commissioner of Rajkot.

The turning point came for Shah when, under legal advice from senior lawyers, the Gujarat government accepted before the Supreme Court that the Sohrabuddin encounter was fake. It was unprecedented.

From that day, none of Modi's and Shah's political strategy seems to work. Some believe that Shah and Modi might have thought that the matter would end with the acceptance of 'guilt' and the Sohrabuddin chapter would be closed after the arrest of few officers.

Shah's calculation must have been that he had absolute power under Modi's rule. He found all the organs of democracy in New Delhi biased and anti-Modi. His arrogance due to political success and his miscalculation about the functioning of bureaucracy and the police force during a crisis has proved to be wrong.

He underestimated the power of men and women in khaki and his total lack of judgment about the Supreme Court's influence over the cases before it has led him to his fall.

Unfortunately, this case will neither deter the men in khaki from misbehaving nor make people like Shah understand that there is nothing above upholding constitutional propriety in independent India.

This case doesn't seem to send a correct signal because today's India is divided. There are a large number of Indians today who oppose the cruel and totally unacceptable murders of Sohrabuddin, Kausarbi and Tulsi Prajapati but don't want to question the killing of Maoists in a suspicious manner by the security forces.

In the end, the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case has turned into an ugly war between the Congress and the BJP.

At the end of the day, with Shah's fall, his boss Modi's eligibility to some day lead non-Congress centrist parties at the Centre has shrunk. Here lies the real win for the Congress, as this will play as an advantage for its future leadership.

It is the saddest moment for the country that the proven fake encounter case will remain more political and less about the principles of upholding the ethos of the Indian Constitution, which doesn't give men in khaki any power to kidnap and kill a good, bad or ugly Indian.

He was considered Modi's No 2. It was said he will become CM once Modi goes to delhi. But congress is in revenge mood as It was Amit Shah who took GCA from congress hold and handed over to Modi. I guess Now modi's No2 will be Anandiben Patel. Or someone with a clean image...

__________________- Spending your life waiting for the messiah to come save the world is like waiting around for the straight piece to come in Tetris.
Even if it comes, by that time you've accumulated a mountain of shit so high that you're fucked no matter what you do.

Amit shah has been advised not to field any BJP related lawyer to defend his case. Jaitley and Mahesh Jethmalani were to defend him but it seems some one called Mitesh Amin will be his representative.

They have asked which questions will be asked as it has been more than 5 years passed and they need time to recollect the events...

__________________- Spending your life waiting for the messiah to come save the world is like waiting around for the straight piece to come in Tetris.
Even if it comes, by that time you've accumulated a mountain of shit so high that you're fucked no matter what you do.

The Congress has timed the issue to distract the nation's attention from the failures on various fronts - inflation, unrest in Kashmir, the naxalite violence, failure of talks with Pakistan etc. The chargesheet was prepared even before Amit Shah was summoned. What does that tell you?

Narendra Modi himself submitted to the SIT summons fully, his minister would've done it too.

Meanwhile, Amin Shah has resigned and Modi has accepted the resignation.

__________________Nietzsche (1887) : God is deadGod (1900) : Nietzsche is dead -----------------------------------------
I will not be hurried and I will not be bullied

The Congress has timed the issue to distract the nation's attention from the failures on various fronts - inflation, unrest in Kashmir, the naxalite violence, failure of talks with Pakistan etc. The chargesheet was prepared even before Amit Shah was summoned. What does that tell you?

Narendra Modi himself submitted to the SIT summons fully, his minister would've done it too.

Meanwhile, Amin Shah has resigned and Modi has accepted the resignation.

The Kangress is timed it in such way that Amit Shah's persecution will please the sadistic Muslims of Bihar. This will help them to win Bihar.

Amit Shah was a great Home Minister. In 2007-2008 , SIMI or Indian Mujahiddin were doing blasts all over India, Government was not catching them. Anybody living in India will recall that one use to be fearful in going between 5 P.M - 7 P.M in any mall or crowded place as SIMI guys use to do blasts in Weekends.

This continued till one day they did in Ahemdabad. Amit Shah and his ATS Chief Chudasama worked over time and caught these guys within 21 days and broke the whole network . Now that honest and efficient Police officer is also behind bars for same Sohrabbuddin case.

I want my state's home minister to be like Amit Shah . I don't mind if he is involved in encounter.

Having praised Amit Shah, I will say that BJP guys are highly incompetent. How come they could arrest their own DGP Banjara in encounter. They tried to act too good and got screwed up in end. They theought that they would get brownie points from Media on this.

A.P and Maharshtra Goverments do regular encounters ,have they been ever embarassed like this. YSR in Govt in A.P killed three young guys who were accused of throwing Acid on Girls in cold blood encounter to get public sympathy. No body ever questioned.

BJP Guys are fools and not fit to rule if they can't do politics. Recently A.P police killed one Maoisst top leader Azad in encounter. Why can't they raise noise and prove that it is a fake encounter. But they will act good and try not to do politics over matter of national security.

Wirh Congress you have to be ultra good or ultra bad like Laloo/Paswan to beat it. Trying to be good will screw u up like BJP is being done.

Amit Shah was a great Home Minister. In 2007-2008 , SIMI or Indian Mujahiddin were doing blasts all over India, Government was not catching them. Anybody living in India will recall that one use to be fearful in going between 5 P.M - 7 P.M in any mall or crowded place as SIMI guys use to do blasts in Weekends.

This continued till one day they did in Ahemdabad. Amit Shah and his ATS Chief Chudasama worked over time and caught these guys within 21 days and broke the whole network . Now that honest and efficient Police officer is also behind bars for same Sohrabbuddin case.

I want my state's home minister to be like Amit Shah . I don't mind if he is involved in encounter.

Yes. Internal security is great in Gujarat. Being a cybercafe owner I hate the cops visiting regularly for checking since last 3-4 years, but the citizen in me appreciates it. Now NO cybercafe in Surat admits customers without a valid id for any reason, even if it is a close relative or friend or even a government officer!!. Security awareness is at its peak here in my two decades in Gujarat.

__________________Nietzsche (1887) : God is deadGod (1900) : Nietzsche is dead -----------------------------------------
I will not be hurried and I will not be bullied

Having praised Amit Shah, I will say that BJP guys are highly incompetent. How come they could arrest their own DGP Banjara in encounter. They tried to act too good and got screwed up in end. They theought that they would get brownie points from Media on this.

A.P and Maharshtra Goverments do regular encounters ,have they been ever embarassed like this. YSR in Govt in A.P killed three young guys who were accused of throwing Acid on Girls in cold blood encounter to get public sympathy. No body ever questioned.

BJP Guys are fools and not fit to rule if they can't do politics. Recently A.P police killed one Maoisst top leader Azad in encounter. Why can't they raise noise and prove that it is a fake encounter. But they will act good and try not to do politics over matter of national security.

Wirh Congress you have to be ultra good or ultra bad like Laloo/Paswan to beat it. Trying to be good will screw u up like BJP is being done.

Randheer bhau, when I scream from the roof tops that BJP has no agenda, is irrelevant and Modi is an exception not the rule, people say I have turned into a congressi.

What they fail to understand is that Congress knows politics as well and BJP has forgotten politics. They are nothing but a bunch of men with no ideas, unnecessary high morals and ethics and totally meaningless agenda if they have one at all.

What they fail to understand is that Congress knows politics as well and BJP has forgotten politics. They are nothing but a bunch of men with no ideas, unnecessary high morals and ethics and totally meaningless agenda if they have one at all.

You have not experienced their agenda. Development and security.

__________________Nietzsche (1887) : God is deadGod (1900) : Nietzsche is dead -----------------------------------------
I will not be hurried and I will not be bullied